Robert Kemp (playwright) explained
Robert Kemp (playwright) should not be confused with Robert Kemp (literary critic).
Robert Kemp (1908–1967) was a Scottish playwright. Along with Tom Fleming and Lennox Milne, he was a founder of the Edinburgh Gateway Company (1953 - 1965).[1]
He was born at Longhope in Orkney, where his father was the minister. Educated at Robert Gordon's College and the University of Aberdeen,[2] he lived in London and then in Edinburgh (in Warriston Crescent). Before turning to drama, he trained as a journalist with the Manchester Guardian. From the time he adapted Molière's L'Ecole des Femmes for the Scottish stage in 1947 he sought to promote a distinctly national drama, often employing Scots dialogue.[3] His A Trump for Jericho, a comedy set in the New Town of Edinburgh at the time of the Disruption in 1843 was first performed by the Scottish National Players in 1947.[4] He also wrote plays for the Glasgow Citizens and Dundee Repertory Theatre.[5] In 1948, working with Tyrone Guthrie, he staged a revival of Scotland's first Scottish play, David Lyndsay's Ane Pleasant Satyre of the Thrie Estaitis and, also in 1948, he coined the phrase “Edinburgh Festival Fringe”.[6] His adaptation of Allan Ramsay's The Gentle Shepherd was staged at the Assembly Hall of the Church of Scotland in 1949.[5] His son, Arnold Kemp, achieved fame as a newspaper editor.
Published work
Robert Kemp's plays include:
- Let Wives Tak Tent (1948): a free translation into Scots of Molière's L'école des femmes inspired by the Compagnie Jouvet of Paris's production of the play at the first Edinburgh International Festival in 1947
- A Trump for Jericho (1947), Brown, Son & Ferguson Ltd. (1985) and Players Press (1996)
- The Heart is Highland (1954)
- (1954): a free translation into Scots of Molière's L'avare (The Miser)
- The Penny Wedding (1957), Brown, Son & Ferguson Ltd. (1985)
- The Scientific Singers / A Nest of Singing Birds (1955 / 1957), Brown, Son & Ferguson Ltd. (1985)
- Off A Duck's Back (1961)
- The Other Dear Charmer,[7] Brown, Son & Ferguson Ltd. (1985)
- The Perfect Gent (1962)
- The Asset (play)
- Master John Knox, St. Andrew Press (1960)
- Venom for Two, Brown, Son & Ferguson Ltd. (1985)
Other plays
- Seven Bottles for the Maestro (1945)[5]
- When the Star Fell (1946), a nativity play staged for Christmas at the Church of Scotland's Gateway Theatre at 41 Elm Row, Edinburgh[8]
- Conspirators (1955)
- Marigold (1955), a musical play, with music by Cedric Thorpe Davie
- The Man Among the Roses (1956), a verse play based on the ballad of Tam Lin
- The Daft Days (1957), adapted from the novel by Neil Munro
- Rob Roy (1960), adapted from the novel by Sir Walter Scott[1]
Further reading
- Mackie, A.D., Kemp, Robert, Milne, Lennox, Fleming, Tom & Kelsall, Moultrie R. (1965), The Twelve Seasons of the Edinburgh Gateway Company, 1953 - 1965, St. Giles Press, Edinburgh
- Findlay, Bill, "The Founding of a Modern Tradition: Robert Kemp's Scots translations of Molière at the Gateway", in Brown, Ian (ed.) (2004), Journey's Beginning: The Gateway Theatre Building and Company, 1884 - 1965, Intellect Ltd., Bristol,
External links
Notes and References
- Elder, Michael (2003), What do You do During the Day?, Eldon Productions, p. 15,
- Pine, L.G., ed., The Author's and Writer's Who's Who, 4th ed., 1960, p.218
- Graves, Charles (1974), Men of Letters, in The Scottish Arts Club, Edinburgh, 1874 - 1974, Scottish Arts Club, Edinburgh, p. 58
- Kemp, Robert (1985), A Trump for Jericho, Brown, Son & Ferguson Ltd., Glasgow
- Graves, Charles, "Drama", in Reid, J.M. (1951), Some Scottish Arts: An Outline, Serif Books Ltd., Edinburgh, pp. 13 - 20
- News: . Kemp . Robert . More that is Fresh in Drama . 14 August 1948.
- Robert Burns's Life on the Stage: A Bibliography of Dramatic Works, 1842–2019 . Studies in Scottish Literature . 28 December 2021 . 47 . 2 . 69–112 . Keith . Thomas .
- Mackie, Archibald D., "Forty-One Elm Row", in The Twelve Seasons of the Edinburgh Gateway Company, 1953 - 1965, St. Giles Press, Edinburgh, pp. 3- 6
